Health

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How the judge who could ban the abortion pill won confirmation in the U.S. Senate

BY: - February 28, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. District Court judge who could end more than two decades of legal access to medication abortion underwent extensive questioning about LGBTQ equality at his December 2017 confirmation hearing — and very little about his views on abortion. Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk, appointed by former President Donald Trump earlier in 2017, spent much […]

Sen. Red Dawn Foster, D-Pine Ridge, foreground, listens as Rep. Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish, asks a question about a proposed task force on Native American children in foster care on Feb. 27, 2023, during a hearing at the Capitol in Pierre. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Panel backs task force to study foster care for Native American children

BY: - February 27, 2023

PIERRE – A House panel on Monday endorsed a two-year task force to study Native American overrepresentation in South Dakota’s foster care system. Senate Bill 191 cleared the full Senate last week. It’s the only bill related to Native children in foster care to have survived past a committee hearing so far this session.  The […]

A neon sign advertises delta-8 products at a store in Sioux Falls. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Recreational marijuana is illegal, but its high-inducing cousins are widespread

BY: - February 25, 2023

Recreational marijuana is illegal in South Dakota – voters confirmed as much in November – but the next best thing is available from border to border. The 2018 Farm Bill legalized the cultivation of hemp. By extension, it legalized two cannabinoids called delta-8 and delta-10 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which occur naturally in tiny amounts in the […]

People attend a "Fight4Her" pro-choice rally in front of the White House at Lafayette Square on March 29, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Astrid Riecken/Getty Images)

Doctors recount ‘heart-wrenching’ stories in new study on medical care post-Roe  

BY: - February 24, 2023

Researchers at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) are trying to piece together how the end of Roe v. Wade has so far transformed pregnancy-related medical care in America, and the yet-to-be-released preliminary data are alarming, the lead principal investigator told States Newsroom in an exclusive interview. The team has already received dozens of […]

Rep. Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls, on the House floor during the 2023 legislative session at the Capitol in Pierre. (Makenzie Huber, South Dakota Searchlight)

House passes bill to reimburse nursing homes, care facilities at 100%

BY: - February 22, 2023

The state House of Representatives passed a bill 44-25 on Wednesday that would annually adjust the reimbursement rate for community-based providers to 100% of the costs of caring for patients covered by programs such as Medicaid. Those providers include nursing homes, assisted living facilities and care facilities for people with developmental disabilities. That’s a 10 […]

Pro-choice activists with the National Organization For Women hold a vigil outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 23, 2012, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

Democratic governors in 20 states form reproductive rights alliance

BY: - February 21, 2023

Democratic governors from 20 states across the U.S., led by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have formed a Reproductive Freedom Alliance to safeguard and improve abortion and reproductive health care access “in the face of an unprecedented assault by states hostile to abortion rights,” according to a joint statement. The announcement represents another divide in the […]

Filling Medical Form, document, stethoscope (Getty images

Rural hospitals gird for unwinding of pandemic Medicaid coverage

BY: - February 20, 2023

Donald Lloyd, CEO and president of St. Claire HealthCare in Morehead, Kentucky, has spent more than a year dealing with higher costs for food and medical supplies for his regional hospital. Now he’s trying to prepare for another financial hit — the loss of Medicaid reimbursements for treating people in rural Appalachia. “We are all […]

Rep. Erin Healy, D-Sioux Falls, testifies at the Capitol in Pierre in support of HB 1159, which would exempt feminine hygiene products from the state sales tax. The bill was sent to the 41st day by the House Committee on Appropriations, which means the bill is dead unless enough legislators decide to revive it. (Makenzie Huber, South Dakota Searchlight)

House committee kills three tax cut bills

BY: - February 15, 2023

PIERRE – The House Committee on Appropriations killed three of the tax cut bills introduced to the Legislature this session. The bills included one that would exempt feminine hygiene products, such as tampons, from the state sales tax; one that would exempt burial and cremation services from the state sales tax; and one that would […]

Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller and her husband, Mike Mueller, stand outside the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Pierre during a vote to censure her on Feb. 1, 2023. (Joshua Haiar/SD Searchlight)

Attempt to block COVID vaccines from required school immunizations fails in committee

BY: - February 15, 2023

A bill aimed at preventing COVID-19 vaccines from becoming mandatory for children attending public schools in South Dakota failed to pass the state’s Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday.  Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller, R-Rapid City – who was recently censured by the state Senate after she allegedly made harassing comments about vaccinating children to […]

Marcella Gilbert organizes Lakota cultural activities and provides respite care for parents at the Children’s Village operated by Simply Smiles in La Plant, South Dakota. Bryan Nurnberger, president and founder of the nonprofit, serves as interim director of the foster care village. (ARIELLE ZIONTS / KHN)

It takes a village: Foster program is a new model of care for Indigenous children

BY: - February 14, 2023

LA PLANT, S.D. — Past a gravel road lined with old white wooden buildings is a new, 8-acre village dotted with colorful houses, tepees, and a sweat lodge. The Simply Smiles Children’s Village, in this small town on the Cheyenne River Reservation, is home to a program aimed at improving outcomes and reducing trauma for […]

The state Capitol in Pierre. (Getty Images)

Committee approves vaccine exemption bill amid misinformation, offensive language

BY: - February 14, 2023

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes offensive language, which has been included to accurately portray the content of a public legislative hearing. A South Dakota legislative committee approved a bill Tuesday that would establish a “conscience” exemption from COVID-19 vaccine mandates, after the committee hearing at the Capitol in Pierre disintegrated into a parade of misinformation […]

An ad on the F Subway Train promotes the birth control pill RU-486 on Jan. 22, 2001, in New York City. The ad campaign was sponsored by Planned Parenthood. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Newsmakers)

Attorneys general from Democratic-led states urge judge to keep abortion pill legal

BY: - February 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — Attorneys general from 21 Democratic-leaning states are calling on a Texas judge to keep the abortion pill on the market, rejecting claims anti-abortion medical groups made in a lawsuit that’s centered on the medication’s approval more than two decades ago.  The latest brief in the case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food […]